"This
is garbage!" Bodhi hissed angrily, throwing the crumpled letter back into
the messenger's blank face.

The
thrall bowed as low as he could, backing away from her. Unfortunately for him,
he was not fast enough, and her heavy slap connected with his jaw, sending him
reeling onto the floor, spitting blood and broken teeth. If that was possible,
the glassy, mindless look in his eyes made her even angrier.

"Shaverin, Dhaven,
remove this idiot!" She yelled to her minions who were hovering at the
entrance to her chambers. "Feed if you like, but clean up the mess
afterwards!"

She
slammed the door into their faces, scowling at the half-choked scream, followed
by the gurgling noises, coming from the antechamber. That was hastily done, she
admitted to herself. In the city, overwhelmed with churls and their brood,
efficient thralls were hard to come by, and this one was not half as bad as the
fool she had disposed of yesterday. Regardless of the lack of sense, her
momentary lapse was not anything of consequence. No doubt, by the night's end,
her servitors would drag in another screaming peasant or a dimwit farm girl.
Maybe that one would be good for something more than a quick meal.

"I should tell them to stay away from
the farmers' markets when they hunt," Bodhi muttered scoffingly. "A
pickpocket or a street whore would serve my needs much better than another
country bumpkin!"

Her
real target should have been Saemon and his insolent slackness, she thought
derisively. As of late, the pirate's missives became completely irrelevant.
With every passing day, he was getting more impertinent; it was almost as if he
could sense her weakness, the way that sharks smell blood in the water.

Seething with frustration, Bodhi prowled
her chambers like a panther in heat, finally stopping before a small side
table. On top of it, sat a hat-sized box of ebony wood, accented with ivory
skull and bone designs; the likes of which antiquaries use to store and display
especially valuable pieces. A chance procurement delivered by one of her
minions on her vague request, but it suited its current contents exceedingly
well. The box smelled strongly of embalming fluids and stale perfume, but the
fainter, less pleasant note of arrested decay could be easily discerned in the
box's less-then-subtle bouquet of odors. Driven by impulse and sudden desire
for a diversion, Bodhi fiddled with the lock and flipped the lid open. Were she
a mere mortal, the stench would have overwhelmed her senses.

Inside the snug compartment, on a bed of stained, wine-red
velvet lay a dead head of a dark-haired, bearded man, with a fancy pearl
earring in a pallid earlobe. The grimace of fear distorted his once handsome
features, and a deep gash made by a very sharp instrument was still visible on
one cheek, although someone had put their best effort to stitch up the rend. The
process of decomposition had hardly begun, and if one looked closely, one could
still see the remains of makeup, applied to make the deceased look presentable.

Anticipating the coming entertainment,
the vampire smirked, and pulled the head out of its cozy nest, giving its nose
a rather nonchalant tweak. The neck-stump had stopped bleeding days ago, but
the flaps of skin, once carefully stretched and stitched back to the body could
not conceal the terrible state of the wound. Whoever had cut off the dead man's
head had not been quick or clean about it. The windpipe and the neck muscles
looked like they had been cut many times by strokes of a small blade. Not for
the first time, the Huntress wondered, if the man was still alive, while his vertebral
column had been hacked through with a dagger. Saemon's girl certainly had
potential, Bodhi mused idly. Perhaps Jon had sensed it too; he had always been
exceptionally good at picking up talented individuals.

Shrugging these musings off, Bodhi positioned the head upright in its nest of
red velvet and sprinkled a pinch of aromatic incense onto a coal brazier.
Almost instantly, the coals burst into dark flames, filling the room with spicy
aroma and killing the stench coming from the dead head. Small niceties like
that always made the necromantic rituals more enjoyable. Through the last
couple of months Bodhi had killed, tortured, and raised as undead enough
innocents to appease her dark mistress. True, she had experienced a setback
with her most important task, but it did not feel as if Kiaransalee was angry
at her over that failure, as Bodhi's prayers were always answered duly. The Revenancer
was fickle and forgetful, and her vain and indecisive nature was somewhat
susceptible to manipulations.

The
vampire was much more concerned about incurring the wrath of her other divine
patron. Lolth was not easily distracted from her purpose, nor did she feel any
affection towards Kiaransalee's undead pets. Failing in her mission, Bodhi
would have hard time convincing the lesser goddess to overlook the displeasure
of the senior deity, although she still had a chance of exploiting the rivalry
between the two. The Abyss was beckoning, and the vampire did not relish the
thought of returning there. Frowning at these disturbing thoughts, Bodhi
muttered the wording of a minor spell, warding the entrances to her quarters
and flooding the periphery of the chamber with artificial darkness. The only
bright spots in the room remained the immediate vicinity of the brazier and the
stand with the dead head.

Next came the turn of a more sophisticated divine ritual.
Bodhi had used it many times prior, but still had trouble with wording
particularly tricky syllables. The vampire cussed and started the spell over.
On the third time, a slow spasm ran through the dead head's facial muscles. Its
eyelids flipped open, the bluish lips quivered, emitting a painful sound half
way between a moan and a croak. A streak of ichor trickled from the mouth, the
yellowing teeth bared in tortured scowl. Lacking the lungs and windpipe, the
head should not have been able to speak, yet somehow the Revenancer's magic
compensated for that problem.

"I
am thirsty, " the head complained hoarsely. "A mouthful of water, a
droplet of wine... is it too much to ask for? I have been wondering through
those damnable fields of dust for days, and there is no sign of an exit."

"I doubt that when you finally see the gate leading to the Plane of your
final destination, you will welcome its sight," Bodhi sneered at his
whining. "You are dead, master Eldoth, and it is not likely that your
afterlife is going to be any more pleasant than the passage through the Fugue
Plane. As for water, I can throw you into a river and it will spill through
your yawning gullet without giving you any sense of relief."

"Is
it you again?" The head inquired angrily. "Leave me be, vampire! I
have heard all of your empty promises and ridiculous threats one time too many.
There is nothing you can do to hurt me, and even less to help me. I am done
for, butchered, murdered, and buried. The little Calimshite whore did a
thorough job of sawing through my vocal cords with her dagger. Let me rot in my
grave. I am not going to answer any of your ridiculous questions!"

"True
enough, I cannot do much to help you wriggle out of this situation, "Bodhi
replied amusedly. "Perhaps, next time you should use a different organ for
such an indispensable function as thinking? Oops, my bad! You can hardly be
influenced by that particular piece of your anatomy
in your present state. One can only wonder, if you are a wiser man now, after
your male parts were removed together with the rest of your body."

"Enough
of your wisecracks, vampire!" the head spat out furiously. "This
latest offence does nothing to improve your chances of getting any information
out of me! I won't utter another word whatever you say!"

"An unwise decision, master
Eldoth!" Bodhi tsked at the dead head's anger. "I might not be able
to bring you back to life, but there are still plenty of other things that I
can do for you. Like say, dispense justice on your behalf?"

"And
what good would it do me?" The head sneered at her. "We have been
over this proposition before. Vengeance, delivered by the hand of another,
won't be much of a consolation. The wench would suffer for a few hours, or
perhaps days – if your promises are to be trusted – then her soul would settle
on some lavishly decorated paradise of a Plane, while I would be condemned to
spend eternity in one of the frozen or boiling Hells you described so vividly.
To make me talk, you have to promise me something more!"

Ever
since she had 'liberated' Eldoth's head from the tomb, toying and bickering
with it over the scraps of information it might possess had became Bodhi's
nightly routine. Nothing useful ever came of it, yet she persisted in this
game, if only for the entertainment it provided. The Huntress doubted that
Eldoth knew anything vital about Jon's whereabouts, but his obstinacy made her
curious.

"Ah,
it is nice to see your resolve waver already," she smirked playfully.
"So, there is something you would trade for your information? What if you
could extract this revenge yourself? Would you be willing to go through a
transformation?"

“In
my present state, I won't qualify for any dignified form of undeath, and being
raised as a headless zombie is not the fate I would seek for myself,"
Eldoth's head said mournfully. "I would rather try my chances with
Kelemvor."

"I
don't need you r permission for the ritual. And once I raise you as undead, you
would be entirely under my control."

"But
you won't gain anything from it," the head pointed out dryly.
"Otherwise, you would have done it a long time ago. My soul would be
doomed to reside in a rotting corpse for as long as it shambles around, but my
wits would be lost to the ravages of decay. If you need something I know, you
have to pay for it. So far you have not been able to meet my price."

"You
are a persistent one," the vampire growled, feeling more and more annoyed.
"I hate bothering the Lady of the Dead with such a minor nuisance, but you
leave me no choice. Mind, however, that when she answers my call, you will have
to face her in person, and her bouts of temper are legendary among the kindred.
If you end up in a Pillar of Skulls gracing the fields of Baator, you will have
only yourself to blame for your insolence."

Truth
be told, Bodhi was bluffing. After her hounds had lost Joneleth's trail, she
had tried to contact Kiaransalee directly, performing all the proper grisly
rituals. But even after the slow, painful death of the sacrifice, her mistress
had refused to answer the call. Bodhi was not much concerned – in all her
previous communications with the Revenancer, the goddess had always been the
active side, manifesting at will at a place and time of her choosing. She could
stay silent for decades, then, all of a sudden, manifest herself via some
grisly portent. Based on that experience, Bodhi believed that Kiaransalee would
contact her when the time was ripe.

"You've
tried to intimidate me before, but so far your threats have failed to
materialize," Eldoth's head snapped sullenly. "Your 'mistress'
appears to be permanently busy with other matters."

"Do
not blaspheme fool, lest the Revenancer's wrath annihilate you!"

"Many
claim they commune with the gods," the head sneered at her. "Precious
few actually do. Prove that you are among the latter, vampire, or stop
bothering me with your summonings. I would rather rely on the judgment of the
Master of the Crystal Spire, than become a plaything for another female
psycho."

"Deviant!"
Bodhi spat in anger. "You will pay for this impertinence! Kaiaransalee,
wise and cunning Lady of the Dead, Revenancer of the Deceased, Vengeful Banshee
that never forgives, Mistress of the frozen Hell of Thanatos! I implore you to
punish the blasphemer, who scorns your powers, and denies the splendor of
forever-living through death!"

Even
after Eldoth’s latest snide remarks, she did not truly hope to draw the
Revenancer's attention. Kiaransalee was not in the habit of helping her failed
minions. Rather, Eldoth’s stubbornness made Bodhi angry enough to use all of
the goddess' titles in a single address, in a vain hope to awe him into
obedience. But when she finished listing the Lady of the Dead's many names, the
air in the darkened chamber began to crackle with chill.

This
time Kiaransalee did not bother with assuming her glamorous avatar of a
beautiful drow female, but showed up in her true form – that of an undead
lich-queen. Under the flimsy veils of black silk, the goddess' ebony skin
looked parched and wrinkled, stretching over the skeletal thinness of her tall
frame. Her waist-long hair hung dry and brittle as pale veils of graveyard
lichen; the shriveled breasts were covered only with the wealth of silver
necklaces and chains, and the usual multitude of silver rings studded the
crooked, bone-thin fingers. Sitting cross-legged on a slab of something that
resembled a grave-stone, the Vengeful Banshee broke in mad giggles, showing a
mouthful of brown, rotten teeth and a leathery strip of a tongue that looked
like a spoiled piece of meat. Glowing red eyes, sharp as gimlets, peered at Bodhi
from the deep hollows of the skull-like face. Awed at the sudden success of her
summoning, the vampire dropped to her belly, cowering before the apparition
that floated in the air before her.

"Foolish
pet," Kiaransalee rasped at the prostrate vampire with an air of amused
disdain. "I should not have bothered with corrupting such a weakling.
Certainly, you were a novelty at a time... but your tricks are running stale,
and I am getting tired of your ineptitude. No wonder you have failed in your
most important task. How could you possibly manipulate such a shrewd male as
your brother, when you could not bring to heel an animated head without my
help?"

"Forgive
me, Mistress!" Bodhi pleaded from her position at Revenancer' feet.
"Not everything is lost. I have located Joneleth and his cohorts. He could
not have gone far. My minions are hot on his heels even now!"

"You
mean they are sniffing around his cooling trail, baffled by his
disappearance?" The Revenancer cackled with glee, enjoying Bodhi's discomfort.
"I would have snuffed out your undeserved unlife a long time ago, if
watching you stumble was not so entertaining. Your latest gaffe was even
clumsier than your loss of face to the Spawn of Bhaal! For now, Master Demadan
E’resse is beyond your reach, but luckily for you, he is also out of the grasp
of his former Queen and lover. The elves have had him for a while, but he has
managed to slip through their fingers, in the same manner, as he did with
you."

"I
am at my Mistress' disposal," Bodhi replied meekly, trying to guess if
Kiaransalee's tone meant the goddess was not truly angry. "I suspected
that the elves of Suldanessellar might have had a hand in Joneleth's
disappearance, but without my Mistresses' help, it would have taken me longer
to locate him. If it pleases my Mistress, I shall send my minions to scout the
surroundings of the tree-city."

"Be
silent, fool!" Kiaransalee snapped in response to the vampire's simpering
zeal. "Luckily for you, I am no longer interested in your brother’s fate.
Following her foolhardy nature, the Queen of Bugs forced me to play a role in
her obsessive feud with her former consort. But her hastiness is becoming her
undoing, as Corellon thwarted her latest attempt to conquer his protected
domain." Kiaransalee grinned widely, cackling with hard-to-conceal
delight. "Lolth has fallen silent," she informed her baffled minion,
"or very nearly so. Ever since her disastrous attack on Evermeet, which
weakened her badly, the Demon Spider has hardly been seen or heard from. Her
servitors maintained the semblance of normal order, but I could sense that
something was amiss. Recently, I had my suspicions confirmed. Lolth is gone
from her lair in the Demonweb Pits! No one has seen or heard from her for
weeks, and her priestesses are beginning to feel the impact of her silence,
wondering if they have angered their mistress."

Bodhi's
head was spinning. Listening to the Revenancer's excited rant, she tried to
appraise the new possibilities that Lolth's departure had opened to her. Kiaransalee's
private hatred for her superior was obvious – not that Bodhi had had any doubts
about the state of relationship between the two drow deities from the start of
her current adventure. Cringingly, she remembered the ending of her audience
with Lolth.

* * * * *

"Why such an interest in a
smallish elven settlement in the middle of nowhere, lotha dalninil?" The
Spider Queen challenged the lesser deity. "You are hardly the one to be
interested in darthiir and their affairs."

Kiaransalee cringed, shifting her eyes
away from Lolth inquisitive stare. Unable to withstand the pressure, the
Banshee shrieked and trashed like a rag doll in the hands of a small child.
When her fit of temper subsided, she flipped her long grey hair away from her
skeletal features, peering at the superior goddess like a cornered rat, but the
Spider Queen only smirked at that display of impotent rage.

"The
mere existence of Suldanessellar and her Tree Guardian prevents me from
exploiting the corrupted mythal of Myth Rhyn that spans the burial grounds of
the deceased kingdom of Keltormir," the Revenancer finally explained.
"Once the Tree is defeated and the elves are driven out, I can take
possession of those giant catacombs in the heart of the forest of Tethyr. Some of the corpses entombed there are that of the ancient illithiri, once allied with
the forest-dwelling tribes of Keltormir."

"I
knew you were up to something!" Lolth glowered at the Revenancer, who was
cringing under that scrutiny. "So, you were planning to acquire a nearly
endless supply of the dark-elven corpses, buried before the Grand Descent. An
ambitious plan indeed! I shall keep an eye on your activities in the area,
making sure Ust-Natha remains the stronghold of the spider-kin. Still, I find
it is amusing that your scheme entailed such a long waiting time, and yielded
nothing of substance. You have targeted the wretched tree-city for almost two
centuries, but reaped no rewards."

"Quar-Valsharess
must have grown bored with the tale of my blundering pet," Kiaransalee
hissed, glaring at Lolth defiantly, "or she would have noticed that I twice had that despised tree-settlement on the brink of
becoming the city of the dead. My carefully planned scheme of corrupting their
Archmage worked out nicely. Their despicable Tree of Life nearly perished in
flames, set by Bodhi, while her brother struggled to control the powers of the
mythal. If not for his vanity, that compelled him to summon the storm and
quench the wildfire, Suldanessellar would have become the field of charred
bones and roasted flesh. But even so, the devastation of the city was so severe,
and the general mood so desperate that their Queen was driven to commit her
gravest mistake, turning her fallen lover into a de
facto walking corpse, and deeming that a 'mercy'."

"That
was hardly your doing," Lolth pointed out sharply. "It is my
understanding that Ellesime conceived the idea on her own."

"She
was desperate and had no time to think things through, so her devotion to
ancient history and Elven tradition made her turn to Corellon example!" Kiaransalee
cackled gleefully. As it often happened, the Banshee's madness took hold of
her, and her fit of insanity soon turned into a session of ululating shrieks.
When Kiaransalee was finally able to control herself, she continued, a little
flushed with embarrassment, but still eager to brag about her success.

Bodhi's
lips tightened and pulled up, baring her fangs. Quickly, she averted her face,
making sure the goddesses were too preoccupied with their conversation to
notice her reaction. Bodhi’s severance from the Spirit of Arvandor was the
thing of the past, superseded by her willing embracement of undeath. She could
hardly remember the pain or the sense of deprivation. Still, it was a
humiliating memory, and the one she did not care to relive.

"Charming,"
Lolth scowled at the Revenacer. "It seems the idea of such a punishment
has been floating in darthiir's minds for ages. They were always eager to
follow their patron's example." She clenched her teeth in suppressed fury.
"Still, after the tree-city escaped her fate, there was no sense in
maintaining the link with the darthiir bitch." The Spider Queen glowered
at Bodhi, cowering on the floor next to the mushroom throne then turned her
attention back to defiant Kiaransalee. "She failed you, and was driven
into Exile, and yet you rewarded her with more power."

"A
hastier planner would have abandoned the failed servitor to her fate," the
Revenancer sneered at the senior goddess. "I gave
her another chance by granting her the powers of her chosen form of undeath.
Unbeknown to herself, Bodhi continued to serve me, even when I did not bother
to commune with her. As a fledgling vampire, she needed to feed and
procreate." Kiaransalee cackled, shaking in silent laughter. "That
involved creating more undead and strengthened my power. My servant thrived in
her brother's confidence, steering his madness towards the desired outcome,
thus in place of one useful tool, I gained two. Irenicus's study of death and
its glories was fruitful, and his many experiments multiplied the ranks of the
undead of all types and races. Eventually, the Shattered One designed an
impressive plan of a revenge attack on the tree-city. I will not claim the
advanced knowledge of that scheme, but its implementation granted me even more
rewards. Many have perished at his hands, some were corrupted and stripped of
their souls, making them my subjects. Death was waiting on the steps of the
accursed city. Their shell of magic was weakened enough for Suldanessellar to
fall into the hands of Irenicus's hellish minions. I was not my fault that
Ust-Natha was ruled by your chosen vessel! Were the invasion guided by one of
my worshippers, Suldanessellar would have become a bone-yard, stopping being a
problem and turning into a lovely depository of corpses."

"Keep
your claws off my worshippers, dirty carrion eater!" Lolth snapped at the
lesser goddess, rising from the throne to her full height. Once again, a troop
of yochlols slid from their webs, forming a semi-circle around Kiaransalee and
her small band of undead servitors. "If I catch you poaching among the
spider-sworn one more time, I will declare a Great Running aimed at your
clergy, scorching your live and undead crones alike from all the settlements of
the Children!" Despite her diminutive stature, Lolth towered over the
taller and thinner Lady of the Dead like a predator ready to pounce. Something
in the Spider Queen's eyes, glowing with poisonous malice, made Kiaransalee
cower, shrinking away from her more powerful rival.

"Quar-Valsharess,
I have spoken out of turn," the Revenancer croaked, backing away from the
mushroom throne and almost stumbling into one of the many spider-webs draping
the cavern. A massive black spider hissed at her from the shadows. "I
shall speak of Suldanessellar's affair no more, if it displeases you!"
Kiaransalee screeched, retreating further away from the giant arachnid. Lolth
nodded and the yochlol backed off, climbing back into its perch at the ceiling
of the cave.

"If you are wise enough, your shall
keep to the oath of fealty that you have sworn to me," the Spider Queen
declared haughtily. "My only interest in your pathetic servant was the
link to her brother, pardoned by my former 'beloved'. I want Corellon's plan of
redeeming the wretch shattered in the most painful and humiliating
fashion." She tilted her head, looking Bodhi straight in the eye.
"Vampire, I don't care how your brother's downfall is achieved. Cause him
to deliver the city of Evereska into the hands of her enemies; compel him to
tear the beating heart out of the chest of the daughter of Rillifane and eat it
whilst still warm; push him into madness and make him swear allegiance to
Gruumish the One-Eyed, so he will haunt the forests and glades of the surface world,
slaughtering his fairy kin. I leave the details to your imagination! You have
time until the winter equinox to complete your mission, and I suggest that you
think about the consequences of failing me." She silenced Bodhi's eager
reassurances, making a gesture of dismissal.

"In the mean time, I have a surprise
of my own almost ready for my former lord and husband. I hope he will like the
wrappings." A secret little smile played on the Spider Quieen' s plump
lips, making her look even more astoundingly beautiful and alluring. At the
same time, a string of tiny spiders crawled out of the corners of her mouth,
scattering over the lower part of her face, and somewhat spoiling the effect.

*
* * * *

Many
months had passed since her summoning from the Abyss into Lolth's abode in the
Demonweb Pits, but Bodhi remembered it as if it only happened yesterday. She
had been given the 'scent' of her prey and released on the Prime as a
bloodhound put on trail of a game. Trying to carve out a niche for her private interest
in the two goddesses' game, while playing them against each other was a
dangerous enterprise, but in the circumstances, Bodhi had no other chance of
survival.

"What
a fascinating tale, Great Mistress," she addressed Kiaransalee with a coy
smile. "The Spider Queen reaped what she sowed with her hastiness and the
lack of proper organization. You, on the contrary, are famos for your diligence
and attention to detail. Perhaps, averting your eyes from Suldanessellar and my
brother's fate is a bit premature? After all those centuries of waiting, the forest of Tethyr is like a ripe fruit, ready to fall into your lap. Now that Lolth is no
longer a factor, you can finalize your designs without her interference,
proving your superiority as a patient planner. I can locate Joneleth, and turn
him into a valuable tool serving your cause. He will be more than eager to
destroy the hated tree-city. As the saying goes -- third time is the charm!"

"I do not doubt that you would love to put your hands
around Queen Ellessime's throat," Kiaransalee cackled with mirth.
"And you are stubborn enough to pursue your brother to the end of the
world and beyond if need be. Yet, I am no longer sure I can trust in your
ability to deliver what you promise. My time is too valuable to continue
wasting it on a plot that went stale decades ago. Now that Lolth is out of my
way, all I have to do is stretch out my hands and pick up the threads of her
disintegrating web of power."

"But my Mistress has nothing to lose by allowing me
to engage in this final episode of the Hunt!" Bodhi protested eagerly.
"If I fail to deliver Suldanessellar, it is going to be my failure alone.
If I prevail, my Mistress will claim the spoils of my success, granting me whatever
meager crumbs she feels appropriate for a loyal servant."

"Since sending you back to the Abyss would require
more effort than letting you continue your hunt, I might let you carry
on," Kiaransalee replied tetchily. "I am in a lenient mood today; you
should thank the late Queen of Bugs for your deliverance. But don't expect any
more help from me – from this moment on, your will be on your own!"

The vampire could not believe her good luck. Not only was
she free from the time-constraint that Lolth had imposed upon her, she also had
the Revenancer's leave to do as she pleased with her brother, and the city of Suldanessellar.

"You won’t not
be sorry, Great Mistress!" Bodhi lifted her head and rose to her knees,
staring at the apparition's midsection with an expression of complete adoration.
Under the curtain of many silver necklaces goddess’ skin looked mummified and
filthy, but she preferred that sight to the mad gleam of Kiaransalee's undead
eyes.

"I have heard this tune from you many times
before," Kiaransalee grumbled as her apparition began to fade in the air.
"This is your last chance. Dont' waste it on feeding your vanity with
worthless cat-and-mouse games."

"Wait Mistress, please don't go yet!" Bodhi
cried out hastily. "What should I do with the decapitated fool that denies
your powers?"

The dead head sitting on its perch made a
half-choking sound, drawing Kiaransalee's attention.

"You!"
The Revenancer frowned at Eldoth’s head, suddenly remembering his presence.
"You have heard too much to leave you out of it," she frowned at the
perpetrator. "Let me make you at the very least useful!"

She made a quick motion with her right hand, and murmured
a short incantation, pointing her claw-like finger, studded with silver rings,
at Eldoth’s forehead.

The head quavered, shrieking like a wounded animal. Its
skin began to peel off, baring swaths of pale-red muscles imbued with streaks
of white tendons and yellow fat. A row of wiggling tentacles sprouted below its
chin, forming a fringe resembling the lower end of an octopus. Its teeth
lengthened and crooked, even as its jaw dropped down and extended to
accommodate the growing teeth. A long red tongue dribbling with greenish saliva
lolled out of that horrid mouth. At the same time the head's ears grew in size,
shifting up towards its brow. Behind those grotesque organs sprouted another
pair of appendages, quickly unfolding into a pair of bat-like wings that ended
with wickedly sharp claws. In a few moments the transformation was complete.
The horrid-looking monster took wing, flapping around the chamber with all the
elegance of a huge, clumsy bat. Its wild, desperate shrieks added to the
general unpleasantness of its appearance.

"What is this thing?" Bodhi asked curiously.

"This is called a vargouille," Kiaransalee
cackled at Bodhi's stunned expression. "A rare form of undead, renown for
their special abilities to paralyze their victims with a shriek. Consider this
my parting gift: once Master Eldoth learns how to best use his new form, he
would become a very efficient addition to your troupe. He can scout and steal,
incapacitate enemies with his voice, and deliver messages. Oh, and he is bound
to your will, of course, so you can deal with him in whatever manner you think
fit."

A slow, delighted smile, spread on Bodhi's face as she followed
the creature with her eyes, considering the possibilities. "Thank you
Mistress," she said finally. "I have very good idea what his first
mission will be!"

Her only answer was
silence. Hastily, Bodhi turned around to face the goddess, but Kiaransalee was
gone, leaving behind the stench of graveyard and the shrieking, flapping
monster the color of dried blood.

Kelemvor,
the god of death and the dead, and master of the Crystal Spire in the Fugue
Plane.

Long before the Elves first travelled
to Abeir-Toril from the original Elven homeland of Tintageer on the magical
world of Faerie, Lolth was known as Araushnee, the "Weaver of
Destiny", a lesser deity of the Seldarine, the Elven pantheon of gods. She
also happened to be the beloved consort of Corellon Larethian -- the head of
Elven pantheon, and mother of his two children. After an unsuccessful attempt
at assassinating him, Corellon Larethian severed Lolth from the Spirit of
Arvandor and banished her to the Abyss.

Lolth
is referring to the upcoming attack on Evermeet.

The
abandoned, mythal-cloaked city of Myth Rhynn lies deep in the Wealdath within a
densely forested area known as Mytharan Woods. Myth Rhynn once served as an
elven burial ground, with each tree marking the entrance to an underground
crypt. The dead of ancient Keltormir rest in the lower tombs, and the elves
interred after Keltormir’s fall occupy the upper tombs.